TWO  5.4  TON  HIPPO’S  FLOWN  TO  OILS-­‐SAND  FIELDS  IN  CANADA  

With   the   snow   melting   at   Fort   McMurray,   in   Alberta,   Canada,   the   possibility   exists   of  polluting   the   environment   at   the   Oil-­‐Sand   Fields.   The   melting   snow   contributes   to   large  volume   of   water   entering   the   sand   pits   which   then   would   overflow   and   this   has   a  catastrophic   impact   on   the   Athabasca   River   which   flows   along   several   of   the   sand   pits  feeding  the  aquatic  ecosystem  of  the  Mackenzie  River  Basin.    

Alberta   has   had   its   fair   share   of   pollution   in   the   past   and   in   April   2008   a   flock   of   500  migrating  ducks  landed  on  the  tar  sands  toxic  lake  and  died,  resulting  in  a  US$3  million  fine  to  Syncrude,  the  owner  of  this  toxic  tailings  pond.    

 

SYNCRUDE  Tailings  Pond  

 Oil   sands   (tar   sands   or   more   technically   bituminous   sands)   are   a   major   source   of  “unconventional  oil”  and  have  only   recently  been  considered   to  be  part  of   the  world’s  oil  reserves.   Natural   bitumen   reserves   are   estimated   at   about   250   billion   barrels   globally   of  which   approximately   70%   are   in   Canada   –   located   in   Alberta   covering   an   area   of   over  140  000   square   kilometres,   however,   about   80%  of   this   occurs   along   the  Athabasca  River  near  Fort  McMurray  and  is  considered  suitable  for  surface  (strip)  mining.    

 

Strip  Mining  at  Fort  McMurray  

 

Syncrude  started  commercial  production  in  1967  and  in  1978  the  biggest  mine  of  any  type  in  the  world  was  started  –  the  Mildred  Lake  Mine  site  and  plant  is  one  of  the  few  man-­‐made  structures  on  earth  that  is  visible  from  space.    

 

Picture  taken  from  space  by  NASA  in  2009  of  the  Mildred  Lake  Mine  Site    

 

HAZLETON   PUMPS,   a   South   African   Pump   Manufacture,     received   an   urgent   order   to  manufacture  two  250-­‐300M  HIPPO  Submersible  Slurry  Pumps  at  a  cost  of  R  1.5  m  each  and  with  the   instruction  that  these  pumps,  each  weighing   in  excess  of  5  Tons,  be  flown  out  to  Canada  to  assist  in  avoiding  the  threat  of  pollution.    

The   pumps   were   flown   out   on   flight   CV   7153   on   the   10th   April   2013,   at   a   cost   of  US$49  083.00   by   Gargolux   Airlines   International   SA   to   Calgary   Airport,   Canada   and  transported  by   road   from  Calgary   to  Fort  McMurray  with  a   total  weight  of  10  855  kg  and  occupying   a   total   volume   of   18  986  m3.     The   pumps   are   required   to   operate   at   a   power  supply  of  4160  Volts;  absorbing  350  kW  while  pumping  slurry  at  a  rate  of  1  000  m3/h  and    a  head  of  78  m,  under  temperature  conditions  varying  from  -­‐40  oC    in  the  winter  to  +30oC  in  the  summer.  

 

Standing  next  to  the  two  HIPPO  Submersible  Slurry  Pumps  are  Marius  Sunkel  and  Riaan  Zowitsky  who  were  part  of  the  manufacturing  team  

HAZLETON   PUMPS   has   manufactured   23   HIPPO   Submersible   Slurry   Pumps   which   are  operating   at   the   Oil-­‐Sand   Fields   and   due   to   the   high   cost   of   artisan   labour   it   is   more  economical   to   have   the   pumps   shipped   back   to   South   African   for   repairs  when   the   need  arises.   In  May  2006  the   first   two  pumps  were  designed  and  manufactured   in  South  Africa  and  supplied  to  Canada  and  have  been  in  operation  ever  since.  

 

At  present  HAZLETON  PUMPS  is  manufacturing  two  more  pumps  which  will  be  shipped  by  sea  to  Canada  before  the  end  of  June  2013,  while  the  first  two  pumps  will  be  shipped  back  to  South  Africa  for  repairs.